


City of Owls

by optimustaud



Series: City of Owls [1]
Category: Tokyo Ghoul
Genre: Alternate Universe - 1920s, Body Horror, Drinking, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Gore, Horror, Lovecraftian, Smoking, Swearing, Torture, general weirdness, period appropriate -isms
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-13
Updated: 2015-12-22
Packaged: 2018-05-06 14:20:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 19,636
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5420318
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/optimustaud/pseuds/optimustaud
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The year is 1925.  Former Pinkerton Urie Kuki has just been hired by Dr. Akihiro Kanou for a job.  Saiko Yonebashi learns that her employer has a terrible secret.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Dextra2](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dextra2/gifts).



> Written for Tokyo Ghoul Secret Santa 2015
> 
> Prompt: AU-1920's with horror elements. Urie/Saiko Urie/Promotion-senpai 
> 
> References listed at the end of the chapter.
> 
> A big thank you to fineinthemorning for their assistance with this.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wherein Urie acts like himself and Saiko starts to wonder if her employer is the man she thinks he is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> References at the end of the chapter

**Chapter One**

 

The first Monday in August was a typical day in that Saiko was late for work.  In the months that followed Saiko often though that if she had known what was going to happen that day she would have stayed home and started looking for another job.  

Saiko walked from the boarding house where she lived with seven other girls to the private home of Haise Sasaki.  Her employer’s mansion was built in the Victorian style.1 It stood three stories high with a red-brown stone exterior.  Saiko couldn’t help but think of the house as a miniature medieval castle. The stone stairs that lead from the front entrance and the low fence surrounding the property were made of the same red-brown stone as the building. There was a row of street lights standing along the edges of the property.  Haise’s home was hardly the largest or most elegant, but Saiko thought that it was the most unique.  

She came in through the servants entrance and was immediately hit by the scent of coffee.  Her shoes clicked against the dark hardwood floors as she strode towards the study where she spent most of her work day.  When she opened the door and slid into the room almost everything was as she left it; her desk, two couches facing each other over a coffee table, and the requisite clutter of books that seemed to follow Haise wherever he went.  Saiko smiled to herself whenever she thought of those mornings when she would arrive to work to find her employer sleeping on one of those couches with a book pressed against his chest.   

That morning Haise was sitting down at her desk staring at the Remington typewriter like it had just fallen from the sky.  He was dressed in his favorite blue pinstriped suit and his bright yellow tie hung loosely around his neck. Saiko watched him for a moment while he cautiously reached out and pressed one of the keys with a look of rapt concentration.  At the click of the key Saiko burst out laughing.

Haise looked up blushing like a ten year old that had been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.  “You finally made it,” he pushed away from the desk and walked across the room.  “Would you like some coffee?”  

Saiko nodded and tried not to restrain her giggles.  “I am sorry for being late.”  She set down her bag and went straight to the chair Haise had recently vacated.  Her desk was a mess or random letters, a few copies of The New Yorker, and single Sears Roebuck catalog.

Haise waved her off.  “Five sugars?” he asked. “It really isn’t a big deal, being late, I mean,” he said as he measured out the sugar for her coffee. “Did you go to the movies yesterday?”

In fact she had.  Her love for the silver screen was no secret.  Back home, her father had forbidden her from going to the Nickelodeon, claiming that the new films were responsible for the current generation’s immorality.  He would be furious to know that his daughter spent all her spare time and money at the theater.2

Movies had the power to make her forget her worries.  She would watch those beautiful faces and lose herself in a universe of fictional lives.  Sometimes it was nice to use the fantasy create a little space between the things she wanted and the things she would never have.  She laughed out loud at the antics of Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin.  The seductive Rudolph Valentino set her heart pounding every time he smiled.  She longed to experience one of  Douglas Fairbank’s exotic adventures.  She wished she could be a little more like Clara Bow. 3

 

“What do you need for today?” Saiko asked.  

Haise set the coffee cup down next to her elbow and scrubbed the back of his head, careful not to dislodge his eye patch.  “Hmmm we need to finish up with details on the Chrysler deal. A break for lunch and then I am meeting with Kotarou.  It should be a nice easy day.”

Saiko had been working for Haise for six months and she liked to think she knew him and his household fairly well.  Most mornings she would be able to hear Hinami practicing the piano from her room on the second floor.  Saiko rarely had a chance to see Haise’s young ward, but she liked to think that if their social standing was a little different they could have been good friends.

Besides Hinami there were three men who lived at the mansion; Yomo, Shirazu, and Mutsuki.  She wasn’t sure what their jobs were at the mansion because they each seemed to fill so many roles; bodyguard, chauffeur, cook, gardener, these jobs were shuffled around between the three of them so frequently that Saiko didn’t think it mattered.

Then there was Banjou. She met the bootlegger three months after she had been hired.  Alcohol trafficking, gangsters, and speakeasies, were all part of the shady, immoral world that Saiko’s father had warned her would lead to hell.  It made her uneasy, but Haise treated her well and with the exception of Banjou’s visits, didn’t bring the illegal part of his business home with him.

As promised, Amon Kotarou arrived around two in the afternoon.  Saiko liked when Kotarou came to visit. The two men always had the most interesting conversations after the business deals were concluded.  Haise allowed Saiko to listen in. She learned more about the news of the day from their discussions then she did from anyone else.  That morning they were stuck on the topic of the Monkey Trial that was wrapping up down in Tennessee.4  The publicity of the trial had sparked Amon’s interest in the latest discoveries on evolution, genetics, and natural history.  Saiko followed the conversation while she typed.

“You know the other day I was at an absolutely fascinating lecture at the university the other day,” Amon had said after he and Haise had finished their meeting.  Haise said nothing, and sipped his coffee waiting for Kotarou to continue.  “The lecturer was completely convinced that there is a secret island that sails the oceans and never appears in the same place twice.”

Haise snorted into his coffee.  “And people were listening to him?”

“Of course,” Kotarou said, “but only because he told a good story.  I don’t think anyone took what he said as the truth.  I am actually surprised he was speaking at a school.  He told a completely unbelievable story about some kind of fantastical island where he found these strange creatures. It sounded more like a Jules Verne novel.  He raved on and on, each tale more ridiculous than the last.”

Haise cradled his cup gently in his left hand and frowned.  “What else did he say?”

“We’ll that’s the funny thing.  I approached him after the lecture and we spoke about his adventures for a time. Your name came up. Haise, have you ever heard of Akihiro Kanou?”

There was a crack, like the crumbling of an eggshell, and Saiko jumped a little at the sudden sound. Haise was looking down at his hand where he was holding the shattered remnants of his coffee cup.  Amon leaned across the couch to offer his handkerchief to his friend.

Haise blinked as if shaking off a dream and smiled. He turned to Saiko, “I am sorry Ms. Yonebashi.  Would you mind cleaning this up for me?  I’m all right Kotarou, I was just clumsy.”  He rose and walked out of his study.  

By the time Saiko had cleaned up the spill Amon had left.  Haise was in the foyer speaking to Mutsuki and Shirazu.  He was keeping his voice low, but Saiko had always had unusually good hearing.

“I want the two of you to take Hinami home.  Stay there.  I need to check up on something and I don’t want the Fuegichi’s involved.”

“Sassan . . .” Shirazu started to say, using his employer's nickname.  

Haise held up his hand.  “Please do this for me.  Please keep them safe.”  

Shirazu drew breath like he wanted to say more when Mutsuki stopped him by placing a hand on his chest.  “We’ll take care of it Sassan.  Don’t worry.  But for our sake at least keep Yomo with you. “

Saiko could hear the smile in Haise’s voice.  “I will.  And tell Ryouko not to worry.  I will make sure that she and Hinami are taken care of no matter what happens.”

 

Saiko didn’t like the sound of that at all.  She stepped out from her hiding place and cleared her throat.  Haise immediately turned to face her with one of his disarming smiles.  “Is something wrong?  Is there anything I can help with?  You seemed distracted back there,” Saiko asked.

Mutsuki gave her a look of gratitude and even Shirazu seemed to approve of her offer.  “I’m fine, Saiko,” Haise raised his hand to his chin.  “It's just a little problem I need to take care of.  You can head home once you finish up.”

When Saiko came in the next morning Hinami, Shirazu, and Mutsuki were already gone.  She walked straight into the study.  It was empty.  She stood in the doorway clutching her bag unsure of what she should do.  It was so quiet she could hear the house creak as it settled.  She found a letter left across her typewriter.  It gave her a list of tasks to complete and instructions to call for Yomo in case she needed anything.  Feeling uneasy she settled herself and began to complete the tasks.  

 

Haise returned to the study two hours after her arrival.  He had dark bags under his eyes from a sleepless night.  He was dressed like a dockworker and smelled like salt and fish. He had a leather bound notebook tucked under his left arm.   He smiled wanly when he saw Saiko and asked how her morning had been.  Before she could answer he slumped on one of the couches and tossed the notebook on the coffee table.   

 

He rubbed his face before leaning over to open the book and leaf through it.  “Saiko, cancel my appointments for the rest of the week,” he said.  Saiko did as she was asked.  At the end of the hour Haise was sprawled across the couch with the notebook resting on his stomach.  

 

It became Haise’s habit from that point on.  He would show up in the late morning dressed as a dockworker or a shop clerk.  He would sit on the couch making notes in his notebook and collecting papers from around his office.  Saiko could only look on in curiosity as he updated the log each day.  She had to wait two weeks before he got careless enough to leave the notebook behind when he went out for the night.

 

As soon as she knew that she wouldn’t be interrupted Saiko crossed the room and scooped up the book.  She sat on the couch and started to browse through the pages.  At first she didn’t understand what she was reading.  Each page was headed by the name of a business.  Underneath each business name was a list of people.  Some of the names were crossed off in red, others had notes written in the spaces next to them.  Stuffed between the pages of the book were lading lists and western union telegrams.

 

She realized that this book was a record of all the secret speakeasies he did business with.  The lading lists must have been falsified to hide shipments of alcohol into the city.  She flipped back through the book paying more attention to the people listed in the book.  Every single name that had been crossed out had the word ‘kanou’ written in the space next to it.

 

Saiko slammed the book shut and put it back on the coffee table.  Her heart was pounding in her chest as she considered the content of the notebook.  Haise was investigating his side business, looking for anyone who might have a connection to Akihiro Kanou.  She had a horrible feeling that the people who had been crossed off the list were dead.  

 

Saiko left work early that day claiming that she felt sick.  She went for a walk and tried to clear her head.  She could not imagine that her gentle, smiling Haise Sasaki was having people killed.  On the other hand, she had no idea who Akihiro Kanou was or what he wanted from Sasaki.  Maybe Haise had good reasons for what he was doing.

 

Saiko continued to come to work.   She never opened the notebook again.  She watched Haise work himself into the ground.  There were days when she would receive her pay in advance along with a letter telling her to stay home for the week. Yet every time she asked he would insist that nothing was wrong.  He never told her who Akihirou Kanou was or why he was so concerned with the man.

Saiko didn’t know what to do.  Haise was a keystone.  When he started to fall apart so did everything else.  She went to the theater and tried to lose herself in film only to find that the movies did nothing to take her mind off her troubles.

As November approached Haise’s  night time excursions came to a stop. Hinami and the others moved back in.  He insisted on throwing a huge thanksgiving dinner and inviting all the staff as well as Hinami’s mother Ryouko.   

Two days before the meal Haise drove her down to a farm outside the city so that they could pick out the turkey.  Once the narrow tired hit the rougher back roads of the countryside Haise started to speak.  

“Saiko, I know I haven’t been the easiest person to be around lately . . . It’s not just a celebration I also wanted to thank you all for working so hard.” Haise’s forehead was puckered with worry and Saiko found herself wondering how much of his activity had been a show for his households benefit.  She looked at him, taking the time to examine his features.  There were still bags under his eyes and he had lost weight.  His skin was so pale it almost looked gray.  She wondered how she had missed the obvious signs.  She had been so relieved that he was doing better when in fact, he was doing worse.

Saiko gathered her courage for a question. It was something she had been worried about for months.  “Are you leaving us?”

Haise at least had the decency to look embarrassed.  “I was thinking about it,” he admitted, “but no, I just need to deal with some things.  I won’t be chased out of my home.”  

“Why does Kanou frighten you so much?”  

Haise gritted his teeth, never taking his eyes off the road.  There was a long pause and finally Haise said, “It’s a long story.”

She let the conversation drop.  She didn’t think she would ever know why he had chosen to be so open with her that night. When they returned to the mansion he plastered that stupid fake smile on his face and kept it firmly in place.  

Thanksgiving dinner at the mansion had been the first time Saiko had interacted with the other members of the household on a personal basis.  Haise dug out his collection of jazz records.  Saiko made a few awkward attempts to teach them the Charleston, which she had picked up from watching Bessie Love.5 Banjou arrived with a case of liquor and ended up staying for dinner.  Shirazu could hardly be pried from Hinami’s side and Yomo and Ryouko seemed content to observe the proceedings from a plush sofa in the lounge.  Saiko was certain that she caught Yomo smiling on more than one occasion.  After dinner that sat in the lounge singing along while Hinami played the piano.

It was the happiest any of them had seen Haise in months.  Saiko decided then that she would do everything in her power to make sure his Christmas would be even better.  She was certain that she could convince the others to help her.

 

* * *

 

 

Urie Kuki, former Pinkerton  turned independent PI, had gained a reputation as the man you went to when you needed someone to do a dirty job.6  At the end of September  he had been approached by Dr. Akihiro Kanou for an investigation. The Doctor had handed him a newspaper clipping of a photograph of a ritzy party.  One of the men in the back of the photo had been circled with a black marker.  

“I want you to bring this man to me,” Kanou had demanded.

Urie had taken the newspaper clipping from the doctor and examined the blurry image.  The only feature of the man that really stood out was his odd black and white hair.

“Who is he?” Urie asked.   Kidnapping wasn’t an easy job under the best of circumstances and Urie guessed that this man was wealthy enough to make the job even more difficult.

“That is Haise Sasaki.”

Urie grunted and flipped the newspaper clipping over and pretended to read the restaurant advertisement printed on the back.  Haise Sasaki was rumored to have an almost supernatural ability to predict the turn of the stock market.  This skill had netted him a small fortune over the last four years. It was also said that he was young, attractive, wealthy, and single.  To add to his mystique he rarely made public appearances. Some people believed that Haise kept a low profile because he had gotten the funds for his early investments from rum running.  Other people said he still had his fingers in the business.

This was the first time Urie had ever seen a picture of the investor. “How do you know?” He asked.

“I’ve been tracking him since the end of the war.”  Kanou admitted.  

That was a long time to be stalking someone.  It also meant that Kanou had been after this man when he was a nameless, broke nobody. “Why are you so interested in him?  Did he sleep with your wife or something?”

“It has nothing to do with that.”  Kanou leaned forward and lowered his voice, “What if I told you that Haise Sasaki had a terrible secret?  What do you think would happen to the man who could discover that secret?”

Urie considered the doctor for a moment.  He could picture the prestige and respect he could gain by discovering the dark secret of a wealthy investor. Kanou’s offer suddenly became that much more tempting. Maybe there was some truth to the rumors that Haise had gotten his wealth from illicit business.  

Getting close to the wealthy and the powerful had been Urie’s motivation for joining the Pinkerton’s after all.  It was a shame that the organization had never understood what an asset he was. If only he had been born earlier.  Certainly a man like Carnegie would have appreciated his talents. “You didn’t answer my question. Why do you want him?”

“Haise Sasaki has something that I am very interested in obtaining.”

“Yeah, I’ll bet he does.” Urie snorted, “I don’t care either way.  You want a kidnapping, we’ll arrange a kidnapping.”  Urie would take Kanou’s money and if Haise’s secret was as good as Kanou implied, he would find some way to use the knowledge to his benefit.

 

They had spoken for a bit longer, going over contact information and payment terms before they had parted ways.  Kanou had done a fairly good job of tracking down most of Haise’s legal and illegal business connections.  When Urie pressed him on the topic he admitted that the people he had watching Haise had started disappearing.  Kanou needed someone who couldn’t be traced back to him.   Urie tripled the price for his services.

It had taken Urie time to figure out who exactly he needed to bribe or threaten to find Haise Sasaki’s private home.   It took nearly a week of tailing the cars that came to and from the mansion before he picked out Banjou making regular trips through the servants entrance.  After that it was just a matter of arranging a meeting and gaining the bootlegger’s trust.

 

In the middle of December Urie finally tracked Haise down to a little speakeasy hidden beneath a grocery store.  He paused in the doorway, brushed some snow off his shoulders, and took off his homburg.  He bent the hat between his cold fingers as walked up to the counter.  “Sir, could you help me?  Could I get a pack of Chesterfield Brights?”7

The store clerk frowned and crossed his arms over his chest.  “We don’t carry them.”

“Oh, then how about a box of Lux or some Sawyers Blue Crystal?”8

“None of those either.”  The clerk was reaching beneath the counter.  Urie heard the click of a safety being released. “Will there be anything else Mister?” The clerk asked.

Urie took a step back from the man and swore when his spine pressed against the display case behind him. He was left with two options; he could either leave the store or he could attack the other man and hope he didn’t get shot.9

Urie lunged towards the counter.  He grabbed the clerk by the collar and pulled the other man forward roughly.  There was a soft thud as the clerk’s chin bounced against the table top, “That isn’t what I heard from Banjou,” he growled.  

The bell on the door chimed and Sante, one of Banjou’s crew, walked into the store.  He took one look at Urie assaulting the clerk and shook his head.  “Urie, stop.  It’s all right Yuichi, he’s with me.  We needed an extra set of hands unloading at the docks.”

Urie unwound his fingers from the clerk's collar; the man rose slowly and glared at him. Sante flung his arm companionably around Urie’s shoulders, “I’ll show him around all right. You don’t need to worry about it.”  Sante released Urie and raised the hinged panel on the counter.  Urie followed Sante into the storage room.   

“Try not to be such an asshole, Urie.  He almost shot you.”

“He was being an asshole.  I gave him the passwords.”

Sante sighed.  “You made him suspicious.  You should have told one of us you were coming tonight.  He doesn’t recognize you and he’s gonna be twice as twitchy while the boss is visiting.”

The funny thing was Yuuichi was right to be suspicious; Banjou and his crew were the ones who should have been more cautious.    All it had taken was a little bathtub gin and some conversation on the Pittsburg Pirates for the Banjou and his crew to spill information about their employer.10

 

As he stepped into the stockroom with Sante he saw a man in the back room pretending to unpack boxes. The man rose to his feet when the two of them entered.  He towered over Urie and Sante. Like the two of them this man was dressed in a nondescript brown suit that was unlikely to draw attention.  The effect was undone by the man’s unusual height and the long hair that brushed against his collar.

 

“Yomo,” Sante greeted.  “We’re here to see the boss, is he in?”

Yomo fixed Urie with a pointed glare and held his gaze.  Urie did his best to stare right back at the other man. Sante stood between them waiting for the match to play itself out.  After a beat Yomo nodded towards the back of the room.  “He should be down there.  I hope you have tonight’s password.”

They slipped down the musty stairwell to the bar was hidden in the grocer’s stock room.  When they reached the last step Sante knocked on the door three times and said ‘chartreuse.’   Urie’s gut clenched in anticipation.  He wanted to rush down there and beat Haise into a bloody pulp for making this job take so long.  Instead Urie clenched his fists and stalked after Sante.

Urie stepped into the bar and almost choked.  The pungent odor of cigarettes, sweat, and cheap gin was unbearable in such cramped quarters.  He raised a hand up to his nose.  Sante laughed, “I didn’t realize you were such a delicate lady.  I should have brought a perfumed handkerchief.”

Urie glared at him but otherwise did not respond.  Sante threw his arm around him again.  Urie resisted the urge to pull away.  “That’s the boss over there,” Sante pointed with the arm currently wrapped around Urie’s neck.

Urie peered through the crush of packed bodies in the speakeasy to see where Sante was pointing.  A man in a gleaming white suit was sitting at one of the tables.  There was a fedora was sitting by his elbow. When he turned his head Urie saw an eye patch covering his left eye.   Haise Sasaki dressed like a drugstore cowboy.11 Urie’s contempt rose another notch as did his confidence.  He might be able to finish this job tonight if he played his cards right.   

“Sante,” Haise greeted, his voice just loud enough to be heard over the conversations at the bar.  “Who is your friend?”  Haise kicked out a chair and motioned for the two of them to sit.

 

“This is the guy Banjou told you about.” They both sat with Haise.  

“Urie,” Haise greeted.  

“I will do my best,” Urie said with a fake smile.  The frustration of fruitless weeks spent tracking Haise had ended and Urie had found a fool who associated with incompetent men and wasted his nights drinking with women.  Kanou was an idiot for not taking care of this sooner.

“So Banjou tells me you’re a good, hard worker.  That I can trust you.”

“Sir,” Urie straightened. He let his excitement bleed through into his voice. “Banjou has been fair with me.  He speaks very highly of you.”

Haise’s smile widened and he rubbed the back of his head.  “Well, he’s Banjou.  He doesn’t really say anything bad about anybody.”

It was true enough, but it still pissed Urie off. He reached into his breast pocket for his cigarette case.  “Can I butt you?”  He offered Haise.

“Sure.”  The conversation paused as both men lit up.  “Do you like the work?”  Haise asked finally.   

“I do.” Urie lied.  

Haise beamed.  “Then please continue to help me out.”  He reached out and shook Urie’s hand.  The moment ended when one of the girls in the bar grabbed Haise by the elbow and pulled him out into the narrow aisle for a dance.  Urie watched Haise and the girl as they glided across the floor.  The two of them laughed as they moved, their bodies pressed together, the woman's beads floating through the air as Haise swung her around to avoid bumping into a table.

The night wore on and the party ended.  Haise spent most of his time dancing and chatting with the barkeep.  Urie kept his eyes on Haise and made sure that he didn’t drink enough to muddle his mind.   

 

At the end of the night Haise walked his dance partner out to her car.  Urie followed them and tried to listen to their conversation.  Haise waved to the woman as she pulled out into the street.   He seemed not to notice as the former Pinkerton inched closer, balling his fists and tensing to deliver the blow that would knock the man unconscious.

“Urie,” Haise said before he could strike.

“Sir,” Urie froze while still holding himself steady for the blow he wanted to deliver.

Haise paused and took a long drag from his cigarette. He blew the smoke into the air and he reached to place his fedora on his head. “Urie.  I am going to give you one chance,” then Haise whipped around and grabbed Urie by the arm.  Haise pulled him close so that their noses were nearly touching. At some point Haise’s eye patch had come off.  Without the covering there was nothing to conceal the crazed red eye glowing eerily in the moonlight.  “If you betray me or do anything to hurt the people closest to me I will reach into your gut, rip out your intestines, and make you watch while I feed them to my dogs.”

Then Haise smiled and pushed Urie away.  He put his eye patch back in place and re adjusted his fedora.  “Good night Urie,” was all he said before he walked to where Yomo was waiting for him.

Urie stood in the cold December night uncertain and a little afraid.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. I am thinking of Kirby Hall. http://www.wilkesvirtualtour.com/locations/kirby-hall/#1
> 
> 2\. Movies were the video games of the 1920’s. I think Saiko would be obsessed with them.  
> http://1920s-entertainment.weebly.com/radiomovie-theaters.html
> 
> 3\. Big name stars of the era:  
> http://www.biography.com/people/groups/silent-screen-stars;  
> http://moviemaidens.com/#
> 
> 4\. The Scopes Trial ended in July 1925. http://xroads.virginia.edu/~ug97/inherit/1925home.html
> 
> 5\. Actress who first performed the Charleston on film. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0522281/bio
> 
> 6\. Pinkertons: http://www.legendsofamerica.com/we-pinkertons.html
> 
> 7\. There are no such things. Chesterfields were the most popular cigarette brand of the early to mid- 20th century. They were never referred to as “Brights.” This is just a nifty password.  
> http://cigarhistory.info/Cigarette_items/Cigarette-History.html
> 
> 8\. Laundry Detergent
> 
> 9\. http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/history-of-grocery-stores/  
> https://rememberedsummers.wordpress.com/tag/grocery-store-photo-1920s/
> 
> 10\. The Pittsburg Pirates won the World Series in 1925. They were playing the Washington Senators.
> 
> 11\. 1920’s slang http://www.buzzfeed.com/skarlan/the-a-zs-of-1920s-slang#.fgxyNnnr2
> 
>  
> 
> I used this site for clothing references: http://vintagedancer.com/1920s/1920s-fashion-men/  
> It’s the 1920’s- if someone is out in public they are wearing a hat.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Haise and the kids have a Christmas party. 
> 
> Team Urie and Yamori crash the party.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy the fluff while you can. The next chapters are pain.
> 
> References at the end of the story

**Chapter Two**

   While preparing for the Christmas celebration Saiko learned that she didn’t really know anything about the holiday.   Christmas had always been an abstract concept that she observed through magazine advertisements and church sermons. It had never meant anything special to her or to her family.

Saiko had grown up in Kansas. Her grandfather had been a Norwegian immigrant who had taken advantage of the Homestead act.1 She had grown up in a tiny house that had been built by her grandparents. The home had no electricity and no running water. It was little more than three rooms and a cold dirt floor. 2

Growing up she relied more on her brother than her parents. Her father never let her forget that her birth had nearly killed her mother. When she turned ten, her father left. The small farm they owned fell into debt, and their land was bought out from underneath them. Her brother started to spend more and more time working odd jobs to support the family. Saiko was frequently left alone with her mother.

At fourteen Saiko’s mother started pressuring her to find a husband. Anything and everything about Saiko became a target for criticism: She was too fat, she was too short, her hair was too frizzy. She was lazy and didn’t care that her brother and her mother were killing themselves to support her.   Saiko tolerated all of it in the distant hope that someday she would be able to please her mother. Then one day, her brother announced that he was going to get married.

Saiko waited until after her new sister-in-law had moved into the family home before she boarded a train to New York. It frustrated Saiko sometimes when she thought about how much of her life had been left to chance. As kind as he was, Haise had chosen her on a whim. She didn’t know why he would have been interested in her. She wasn’t attractive or particularly skilled. She didn’t do anything for him that some other woman could have done. It was frightening to think that he could dump her back on the streets. She could not stand the thought of going back to her mother, and without Haise employing her, she would once again be faced with the choice of choosing between prostitution or starvation.

Those thoughts were the furthest thing from her mind right now. She was focused completely on the bare Christmas tree that she and Mutsuki had just maneuvered into the foyer.

“Do you think he has any decorations around here?” Saiko asked.

“Upstairs in the attic,” Mutsuki suggested.

“Well, what are we waiting for?” Saiko hiked up her skirts and jogged up the stairs. Mutsuki called out for her to slow down as he followed her. In her mad dash up the stairs Saiko nearly ran into Hinami on the second story landing.

“What the hell are you doing?” Shirazu yelled and caught Saiko before she could run into the other girl.

Saiko shook her long hair out of her face and smiled as Mutsuki came up the stairs behind her. “Sorry Shirazu, Hinami. We were just going to the attic.”

“You shouldn’t be running on the stairs, what are you, five?” Shirazu groused. “Don’t you have work to do anyway?” Hinami looked towards Saiko apologetically as Shirazu ranted.

Saiko was too excited to be embarrassed. She only grinned and stuck out her tongue. “Do you know if there are any Christmas decorations around here Shirazu?”

Shirazu’s eyes widened when she interrupted his rant. “I think there are some upstairs. I dunno; I think we decorated once.”

“When we all first moved in,” Mutsuki confirmed. “It was right around Christmas so we decorated the mansion.”

“Oh yeah,” Shirazu scratched the back of his head. Saiko couldn’t help but wonder if it was a gesture that he had picked up from Haise.

“You wanna come with us?” Saiko asked. “If we find something we can all decorate together.”

“I want to come,” Hinami spoke up. “We should decorate this year.”

Ten minutes later they had all piled into the attic and were picking through the boxes stored there. It was more cluttered than Saiko would have thought. There was old furniture covered in drop cloths piled everywhere, along with suitcases and sea chests. An odd collection of fishing rods and golf clubs were propped against the corner wall. Saiko could see an old phonograph peeking out from behind an abandoned blanket. The forgotten junk was so tightly packed together that Saiko had to pick her way through the room like it was a maze. She sneezed and waved dust motes out of her face.

Mutsuki found the least dusty chair in the attic and Shirazu set Hinami down on it. They hadn’t been able to bring her wheelchair with them so Shirazu had simply carried her up the stairs.  

“I thought there would be more books in here,” Mutsuki commented as he looked around.

“No,” Hinami said. “Big Brother loves books too much to leave them up here.”

“Is Haise your brother?” Saiko asked out of genuine curiosity.

The other three occupants of the room laughed. “Sassan is everyone’s big brother,” Mutsuki said. “I don’t think he has any family. At least, I have never heard him talk about his parents or siblings.”

They dug through the attic taking time to share any unusual discoveries they made. Shirazu found an old rifle, Mutsuki dug out a blonde wig made for a woman, and Saiko found a strange stone medallion with an owl in flight carved on the front.

“Found them,” Hinami called. She was seated on the floor amongst a nest of boxes, her legs splayed so that her braces didn’t catch against each other and her back resting against the chair. She pushed the boxes towards them as they approached. As they moved the boxes out of her way, Hinami levered herself back into the chair Shirazu had found for her. “And look at this.” She had a small carved box tucked under her arm.

She placed the box on her lap and the rest of them gathered around her. “What is it?” Saiko asked.

Hinami only smiled and opened the box. Inside were old photographs of a very young Haise Sasaki. Hinami laid them out on her lap.

“Should we really be going through Sassan’s things like this?” Mutsuki asked, but didn’t look away from the pictures.

It was so strange to see the man they all admired as a child. Young Haise, without his eyepatch and with his hair ink black, smiled back from the photographs. In almost every photo there was another young man with him; from the days when Haise was in short pants right up until the photographs of him in his doughboy uniform.3, 4

“Mutsuki’s right,” Shirazu said finally. “We shouldn’t snoop.” He took the photos off of Hinami’s lap and put them back in the box. The mood had suddenly turned grim. Whoever that young man was, he had obviously been very important to Haise.

When Haise returned home during the early morning hours, he smelled like cheap booze, cigarettes, and perfume. His eyes were set and determined. Saiko despaired when she recognized the troubled expression on his face. Saiko grabbed him by the arm and pulled him into his foyer. “Welcome home Sassan, come look. We have a surprise for you.” She didn’t want to know where he had been that evening or what he had been doing.

Haise’s face crumpled in confusion when he saw the tree decked out in gold tinsel and delicate glass decorations. His face lightened in amusement as his eyes fixed on Hinami, Shirazu, and Mutsuki wrestling ribbons and wreaths onto the bannister of his staircase.

“Welcome back, big brother,” Hinami chirped.

“Yeah welcome home boss,” Shirazu waved at him.

“Sassan, I hope this is okay?” Mutsuki said last. “This place has been so dreary lately and we thought we would try to lighten things up.”

The last of the shadows left Haise’s eyes. “I think it's a great idea. You know, I was thinking . . . how about we have a big Christmas party this year?”

On Christmas Eve morning an army of caterers and workers arrived at the mansion to convert Haise’s rarely used game room into a dance hall. The tables for pool, ping-pong, and poker were moved to another room. The dart board was taken off the wall and the chalkboard used to keep score was covered up. They all took their time decorating the walls with wreaths and mistletoe. Banjou arrived just in time to restock the corner bar. Tables covered with crisp, white table cloths were set out around the room and piled with food. A small jazz band arrived around seven.

 

They waited for the guests to arrive. The men all presented themselves smartly in their best dinner jackets, silk bow ties, and stiff white collars. Their hair was slicked back with brillantine. Shirazu had stolen Haise’s monocle and was parading around the mansion in a tailcoat. He was haphazardly swinging a cane he had found in the attic. Haise shook his head in amusement and let him do as he pleased.

 

Hinami was dressed in a simple rose-gold chiffon gown, and a jeweled headband with butterflies adorned her bobbed hair. She had helped Saiko choose the pale blue flapper dress she was wearing. The two of them had spent the afternoon shut in Hinami’s room leafing through copies of Vanity Fair and McCall’s. Hinami had surprised Saiko with her knowledge of fashion. The other girl had combed through Saiko’s thick hair with gentle fingers, commenting on how she wished her hair grew in that thick. She had skillfully swept Saiko’s hair off her shoulders into two thick buns coiled around her head.5

 

Saiko was surprised at how much she had enjoyed the time she spent learning to apply makeup and style her hair. She caught herself admiring her complexion in the mirror every time she passed one. It felt a little strange to see how much a little eyeshadow and lipstick changed the way she looked.6   She never would have imagined that a little makeup could make her feel so powerful. She felt like one of those leading ladies in her favorite movies.

Saiko watched with fascination as Haise’s guests arrived. They were all so beautiful, dressed in the latest fashions. Shirazu, Mutsuki, and Hinami mingled freely with the party guests obviously familiar with everyone there. Saiko walked amongst them, laughing and joking with a host of people she didn’t know, taking care to remember their names. She thought of how scandalized her father would be to see the way most of the women were dressed and gave a wicked grin when she considered her own bared shoulders and the knee length hemline of the dress she was wearing.

Haise put a hand on her shoulder and she jumped in surprise. He gave her a reassuring grin. “Come with me, I want you to meet someone.” He guided her towards the old man working behind the bar who he introduced as Yoshimura. With a wave he left the two of them to talk and he disappeared back into the crowd.

“I see that he hasn’t changed at all,” Yoshimura said with a chuckle. “Its nice to finally meet you Saiko.”

“How long have you known him?” Saiko asked impulsively. The last of her beliefs that she knew her employer dissolved when she looked around the room. She was certain she had seen the stiff necked Kotarou conversing with Banjou. All of these people were so different and were absolutely nothing like she imagined Haise’s friends would be.

“I looked after him for a few months after the war,” Yoshimura admitted. He pulled a shaker from underneath the bar along with a container of honey and a lemon.

“What was he like?” Saiko leaned forward and rested her elbows on the bar. Yoshimura was turned halfway toward her as pulled a bottle of gin off the shelf behind him.

“The same as he is now,” Yoshimura said with a laugh, his hands preparing ingredients in the shaker. “He didn’t have a place to return to when he got back home. He stayed with me until he felt like he had to leave. Then one day he came back, said he wanted to repay me.”

“What happened?” Saiko was watching Yoshimura as he worked with the shaker.

Yoshimura paused and uncapped the shaker. “I think that all that is really his story to tell.” He smiled and then slid the finished cocktail towards her.

Saiko took a sip. “It’s good,” she said in surprise.

Yoshimura smiled kindly at her. “Would you like to learn how to make one?”7

There were worse ways to spend an evening than making cocktails at a Christmas party. It didn’t take her long to climb behind the bar with Yoshimura and start serving the guests. Every so often her employer would break away from the dance floor for a drink.

 

Haise was a little flushed and was smiling with a sincerity Saiko had not seen since Amon had first mentioned Akihiro Kanou. Someday she was going to find out why that name had upset him so much; for now, it was good to see him happy again, even if it was for only a few hours.

 

* * *

 

 

When Haise left him standing on the street corner, Urie flew into a violent, overpowering rage.

“Son of a bitch,” he shouted to no one in particular. That man had made a complete fool of him, had been stringing him along all night. He had wasted hours listening to those idiots and he had nothing to show for it except an invitation to the table and Haise’s suspicions.

“Fuck,” he spat. He needed a cigarette and then he needed to talk to Kanou. Urie walked until he found a public phone and had the operator connect him to Kanou’s number.8

“I met him,” Urie said as soon as he heard Kanou’s breath on the other end of the line.

There was a sharp intake of breath. “Do you have him?”

“Not yet.”

A sigh. “How much of a problem is this going to be?”

A pause. “I can handle it.” Urie heard Kanou shift the phone.

“No.” Kanou’s voice came over the end of the line. “I will send you my partner. I don’t want him to get away from me again.”

Again. “I can handle this on my own,” Urie bit back. It wasn’t just a job any more; it was a matter of pride. He needed to do this on his own.

“No, absolutely not,” There was another pause, another moment of indistinct sounds coming over the phone. “There is a man named Yamori. I am going to send him to help you out.”

“Kanou!”

“Urie, if you want to get paid, if you want the recognition, you will do this. I promise once I have him I will show you Haise Sasaki’s secret.”

Urie clicked his jaw shut, his breathing run uneven with rage. “Fine,” he grumbled into the phone.

“Good. I will call you with the details tomorrow. I will be waiting to hear from the both of you when the job is done.” The phone disconnected.

Yamori arrived in town two days later. Urie picked him out from the crowd at Grand Central Terminal almost immediately. He was a giant of a man with the broad bull features and wide hands that looked like they could rip the head off a cat without any effort. He was as well dressed and poised as Haise. They greeted each other at the train station. Urie told Yamori about his brief meeting with Haise as they walked back to his hotel. He left out the confrontation at the bar. Something about the other man set off every alarm bell in Urie’s head.

“Do you know where he is now?” the giant man asked when he finished speaking.

“At the main house. He’s planning some sort of Christmas party with his staff.” Banjou had mentioned it in passing the other day.

“Do you know what we’ll be dealing with?”

“Just his bodyguard Renji Yomo.” And maybe some dogs. “Rumor is that he’s been distracted and acting strangely for months. Any chance he’s gotten wind of Kanou?”

Yamori shrugged. “Depends on how careful the Doctor has been. You think he might take off tonight?”

“Hard to say,” Urie replied.

Yamori broke into a wide grin. “I hope the little rat tries to run. I can’t wait. This should be fun.”

Urie grunted in response completely unnerved by Yamori’s reaction. He understood to a certain extent, he owed the guy a few hits for all the trouble he had caused. There was something about the way Yamori was almost panting in anticipation that wasn’t natural.

 

The two of them came up with a plan to kidnap Haise during the Christmas party. It would be the easiest time to sneak into the mansion unnoticed. Everyone’s guard would be down because of the celebration. Urie could explore the inside of the mansion without rousing suspicion. If he was lucky, he could get close enough to Haise to drug him. After that it would just be a matter of getting him out of the house and into the car where Yamori was waiting for them. If that didn’t work, he could always wait until the rest of the house emptied out and let Yamori in after the party.

Urie arrived on the afternoon of December 24th with Banjou and helped him unload the cases of alcohol for the party. Tucked into his pocket was a hip flask filled with opium laced gin. With any luck he could slip some to Haise without him being any wiser. He would simply have to bide his time.

The party started and Urie watched Haise as he moved around the room speaking to his guests. The other man had gone up to the bar five times in the last hour to speak with the young girl mixing drinks behind the counter. It was worth investigating. Maybe if he stayed close he would overhear something he could use or get a chance to slip Haise the drugged gin. Urie walked up to the bar where an old man and a young woman were taking turns mixing drinks. She was watching him with pointed interested as he approached.

“I was wondering how long you were gonna stand there,” she said with a smile. “What will it be?”

“Surprise me,” he said and regretted it almost immediately when he saw the sharp grin spread across the girl’s face.

The old man stepped in before she could wrap her hands around the cocktail shaker. “Let me handle this Saiko.”

The girl huffed in disappointment and Urie took a moment to examine her. She was attractive enough, if a little overweight. It was odd to see a woman mixing drinks behind a bar.

“What’s your name?” She asked and walked around the counter to stand next to his stool. The old bartender set out two tumblers filled with a dark brown liquor and turned to mix drinks for some other guests.

“Urie,” he said bluntly and took a drink.

The girl, Saiko, plunked herself on the stool next to him and set her chin in her palm. “So how do you know Sasaki?”

“I work for Banjou.”

“Hmmm, what’s that like? Doing that kind of work. I’ve always been curious about it.”

“It’s wet,” he said simply, wondering when this girl would get the hint. Instead of being insulted, she started laughing. She laughed so hard she snorted in the most unladylike fashion imaginable.

“All right grouchy boy,” she said, “dance with me.” She downed the contents of her tumbler in one shot and then grabbed Urie’s arm and pulled him unwillingly onto the dance floor. He could not push her off without drawing more attention to himself.

Urie was a terrible dancer and if he was any judge Saiko wasn’t all that much better than he was. She made up for it with an enthusiasm that left the couples dancing near them bruised and insulted. By the end of their first dance together the other couples on the floor knew enough to give them a wide berth. Urie couldn’t help but be amused by how little she cared for their complaints.

 

Saiko pulled away from him in the middle of the third song and Urie found himself reaching for her. Cool air replaced the gentle heat from her body when she walked away and Urie found himself wishing for the press of her warm skin against his. He shook off those feelings after a moment as the effects of stress from this job. He certainly didn’t feel his heart beat faster when she threw him a flirtatious smile from across the room.

 

He continued to watch her as she went back to the bar to talk with the old bartender. That was when Haise slid over to them. The eye-patched man leaned in towards Saiko to whisper something into her ear and they both laughed. Urie felt something slimy and unpleasant coil in his gut. He took a drink from the bartender, gave Saiko a fatherly headpat, and then went back out to talk to his guests.

 

Urie considered the exchange for a moment before going to speak with Saiko again. Haise obviously knew this girl and cared for her. Urie could use her to get him out of the house. He sidled up next to Saiko at the bar and gave her a timid smile. “You left me,” he said.

 

“You didn’t seem that interested,” Saiko tilted her head back in mock offense.

 

“We’ll I am,” he reached into his jacket pocket and offered her a cigarette.

 

She took one and he offered her a light. He watched the bright red bow of her mouth as she inhaled. They talked for a bit. He learned that she had come from a similar working class family and that she was one of Haise’s employees. She loved the movies and jazz. Most importantly, he learned that she had a little bit of a crush on her employer.

 

After an hour of conversation Urie felt someone watching him from a distance. He turned around and saw Haise watching him from across the room. He smirked. Now was the time to make his move. He turned back to Saiko. “It’s getting stuffy in here, do you want to go for a walk?”

 

She stopped speaking suddenly, a furious blush spreading across her pale face. “All right.” Urie held out his hand and helped her off the bar stool. He pretended not to notice as Haise watched them leave the room.

 

They walked out into the back yard, their feet crunching in the iced over snow and their bodies pressed together to ward off the bitter winter chill.

 

“So where would are we going?” Saiko asked.

 

Urie looked out into the dark where he could see the vague silhouette of his car just beyond the street lamps. There was no sign of Yamori. He wrapped his arm around Saiko’s shoulders and started walking her towards the car.

 

“Urie!” Haise’s voice barked from behind him. He stopped and reached for the colt revolver hidden beneath his clothes. He grabbed Saiko roughly and pointed the gun at her head. He should have known he couldn’t trust Yamori to back him up.

 

“Stay where you are,” Urie said, his eyes searching the darkness for Yamori.

 

Haise was glaring at him, his normally affable expression hardening into something dark and inhuman. He reached behind his head and untied the eye patch to reveal his odd red and black eye. “I did warn you Urie. What happens next is entirely because of you.”

 

Urie held his ground, keeping a firm grip on Saiko. She had frozen in his hold like a scared rabbit. Knowing that she was too afraid to move away from him gave him confidence. “I am only here for you Sasaki. You come with me, you get in that car. I let her go. That is the deal.”

 

Haise cracked the knuckle of his pointer finger and grinned wickedly. “Do you really think it's going to be that easy Urie?”

 

Urie took a step back as Haise approached and cocked his revolver.

 

“It is going to be that easy,” a triumphant voice echoed through the night. Urie could have crowed in victory when he saw a familiar bulky figure sliding out of the shadows.

 

Urie saw the expression of horrified recognition that overtook Haise’s face and knew that they had won.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 2 Notes  
> 1\. The Homestead Act: https://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/Homestead.html  
> 2\. The popular image of the US in 1920’s is the one we get from the movies. However, this was also a time when many Americans in rural communities were still living without access to telephones and electricity.  
> 3\. short pants- worn by children. It used to be seen as a coming of age thing when a child was old enough to wear long pants.  
> 4\. doughboy- slang for a WWI Marine or army service man  
> 5.https://historyboots.wordpress.com/2013/07/26/beyond-the-bob-1920s-hairstyles-for-the-rapunzels-among-us/  
> 6\. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_iMr-yOUbo  
> 7\. Bee’s Knees- prohibition era cocktail made with gin,lemon,and honey. Lemon and honey were used to mask the astringency of homemade gin. http://postprohibition.com/recipes/bees-knees/  
> 8\. http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/first-and-last-pay-phone-180952727/?no-ist


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yamori enjoys his Christmas day and horrible things happen to Haise.
> 
> Saiko calls Urie out on his crap. Urie gets beaned in the head.
> 
> Kanou is just as smarmy jerk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> References at the end of the story

**Chapter 3**

 

Saiko blinked and raised her head. Her neck and back were painfully stiff and her mouth tasted like cigarette ash.  She inhaled sharply and coughed.  There was a soft groan from somewhere in front of her.  Startled, she jerked her head up, the muscles in her neck protesting as she moved. The white of Haise’s odd two-toned hair was the first thing she saw. He was seated a few feet away from her, his slumped form barely managing to remain in the chair. The only light in the room spilled through the cracks and the open eye level grate of the door. Saiko pushed forward and almost fell.  She hadn’t noticed the ropes that were securing her to the chair she was sitting in. Saiko slowly straightened her stiff neck.  Panic started to flood through her and the icy flow of adrenaline flooded her system. “Haise. . . Haise,” she whispered frantically.  

 

He didn’t move from his hunched position. She could see the slight tremors in his shoulders as he shivered. She craned her neck trying to get some idea of where she was. The room was cold and it smelled sweet and metallic.  There were no windows.  She could smell the ocean and from the way the room was bobbing up and down beneath her feet she was positive she was on a boat.

 

Footsteps approached.  Saiko tensed, sick terror blossoming in her stomach.  She hunched down and closed her eyes hoping that whoever was out there would just pass by.  She didn’t want to deal with this by herself. She bit her lip.  

 

The footsteps stopped outside the door and Saiko’s heart fell.  There was the clink of keys.  She heard the door swing open and bang against the wall.  She flinched at the sound.  She felt the light come on through her closed eyelids.

 

The footsteps approached a calloused hand grabbed her chin and tilted her head back.  She let out an undignified yelp and her eyes flew open.  “You’re awake.  It’s about time.”  The hand let go of her chin.  The smell of cigarette smoke drifted across her nostrils.

 

Saiko stared into Urie’s face, her eyes drawn to the bright end of the half smoked cigarette dangling from his lips. The last missing pieces of her memory returned.  The man she had been flirting with half the night had only been using her as bait to get to Haise.  A sense of unreality cascaded over her followed by humiliation.  He hadn’t been interested in her at all; he had only been using her.  Despair warred with fear as she sat in her chair gaping at him.  She desperately wanted this to be some kind of nightmare.  She wanted to wake up safe and warm in her little bed at the boarding house.  She twisted her hands trying to ease the pressure of her bonds.

 

“I don’t understand.  What do you want with Haise?”  After Yamori appeared at the mansion Urie had drug her to the car and forced her to drink some gin from a hip flask.  She didn’t remember anything after that.  

 

The man walked over to Haise.  “Nothing you really need to worry about.  Just do your part and you can go home.”

 

“What is my part?”  Saiko asked shakily.

 

Urie smirked.  Then he whipped around and drove his fist into Haise’s middle.  Shocked by the violence Saiko gasped and pushed back in her chair.  Haise choked and sputtered for air.  His hands jerked in their bonds spasmodically.  

 

“Saiko,” Haise gasped hoarsely as he recovered from the blow.  Urie drove his fist into his jaw.  Haise’s head snapped back with the force of the blow and he spat blood.   Before he could recover Urie drove his fist into Haise’s abdomen once again.

 

“Stop,” Saiko shrieked torn between wanting to throw herself in between the two men and curl away from the whole horrible scene.  She watched her employer slump back against the chair.  As Haise coughed and sputtered Saiko had the first opportunity to really look at him since their capture.  He had been stripped to his trousers and undershirt.  His feet were bare.  He looked like he had been in a fight.

 

Haise recovered for a moment.  “Urie,” he said in acknowledgement. Haise’s face was eerily calm and Saiko had never heard him speak in such a low, controlled tone.  

 

Urie hovered over Haise and placed his hand on the other man’s shoulder.  “Best be careful now, You wouldn’t want to upset the company.”  He nodded towards Saiko.

 

Haise drew a long breath and smirked. His eyes were glimmering with a cold rage that Saiko had never seen before.  She shuddered and Urie took a step back from the deranged man.  “Oh Urie, little boy.  You won’t lay a hand on her.  You won’t do a thing.  Do you know why?”

 

Urie let the butt of his cigarette drop to the ground and turned his face away from his prisoners. Haise didn’t let the conversation drop.  “I know why Urie.  Do you remember?  What I promised you? ”  

 

Haise’s diatribe was cut off when Urie whirled around and punched him for the fourth time.  “Shutup you stupid bastard,” he struck Haise’s face again.  “You shut the hell up!”  Urie threw another punch.  He was starting to pant with the exertion. “What the hell do you think you can do like that, asshole?” Urie finished his outburst with another blow to Haise’s face.  

 

Saiko stayed silent, trying to absorb what was happening around her.  A part of her wanted to break out of the chair and help Haise while a larger part of her wanted to sink into the floorboards and disappear.  Her eyes were burning fiercely as she tried to hold back her tears.

 

Haise shook the blood off his face like a dog would shake water from its fur.  “I always keep my promises Urie.  I think a foot will do.  A foot for each of my friends.”  He grinned wildly and licked blood from his upper lip.  “Look, you went and made Saiko cry.”

 

Urie was breathing hard. He snorted and wiped his knuckles against his pant leg.  “You’re all talk Sasaki.  Nice try.”

 

“Why?” Saiko managed to speak through her terror.

 

“It’s just a job.  Nothing personal.  My partner and I got hired to go after your boss.  I got a real important client that wants to speak with him.”

 

Saiko could barely see through the sheen of tears, but she heard the sound of a second set of footsteps, heavier than Urie’s had been, coming down the hall to their cell.

 

Urie grinned and reached into his pocket for a cigarette. “My partner.  I don’t know how he knows you Sasaki, but he seemed real happy to see you.”

 

A large man stepped into view.  He filled the entire doorway.  He was grinning like a cat with cream on its whiskers.  “Good morning Kaneki, it's been a long time.”

 

Saiko looked back at her employer.  The only movement in him was a slight tic in his tightly clamped jaw.  “Yamori,” was all Haise said, his voice a mix of contempt, fear, and rage.

 

Urie walked around behind Saiko and grabbed the back of her chair.  She yelped when he started to drag her across the room.  Haise’s eyes widened with fear when he saw Saiko being taken.

 

“What the hell are you doing?” demanded Yamori.

 

Urie pointed towards Haise.  “Just insurance in case he does anything stupid.  You hear me, Sasaki?  We’ll be right next door.  I hear anything funny; I slit this girl’s throat.”

 

Haise gritted his teeth and his eyes bulged in his skull.  Then he sank back into his chair in defeat.  

 

Urie smirked.  “Good boy.  You two enjoy catching up.”  Then he drug Saiko out into the hallway and into the next room.

 

“What are you doing?”  Saiko hollered with all her might.  “Let go of me.  Haise, don’t . . .”  The door slammed closed before she could finish speaking.  Haise was locked inside and there was nothing she could do to get him out.  Overcome with fear and self loathing, Saiko started to sob.

 

* * *

 

Urie watched the girl cry as he leaned against the wall and took a drag of his cigarette. Haise and Yamori’s voices burbled softly from the other room.  Saiko was an idiot, but she didn’t deserve to be part of what was going on in the next room.  It was all Haise’s fault anyway for not cooperating with him back at the mansion.  

 

“Would you knock that off,” he said irritably.  The girl choked and held in her tears.  Her shoulders trembled for a moment before falling still.  

 

Urie sighed.  She was making him uncomfortable and it was pissing him off.  On top of that he was starting to feel sorry for her.  “Are you hurt?”  he asked making a deliberate effort to keep his voice quiet.  He remembered the way she had looked on the dance floor, the rough sound of her laughter, and the bold way she had flirted with him at the bar.  He barely recognized her now with makeup running down her face and her lips twisted in grief and fear.

 

The girl looked up at him in confusion, her eyes shifting from side to side uncertainly.  “I don’t think so,” she said in a watery voice.

 

Urie nodded.  “Good,”  that uncomfortable feeling started to grow.  For the first time in his life he couldn’t stand the silence.  “Here,” he walked behind her and untied her arms from the chair.  He dropped his handkerchief into her lap and stepped back. “Wipe your face,” he ordered.   Defeated, Saiko slumped back in the chair and carefully began to clean herself.

 

The voices on the other side of the wall were getting louder and harder to ignore. “I’m sorry you had to get drawn into this.  Once my client gets here, you’ll be free to go.”  He could vaguely hear the sound of fists on flesh and Haise’s muffled grunts.  She was vulnerable and terrified.  She would be easy to manipulate.  Urie didn’t know why the thought made him feel so uneasy.

 

Saiko’s lips trembled and she sniffled.  Urie felt a surge of relief when she didn’t start to cry again.  

 

There was the dull sound of a hammer on metal.  Haise shrieked.

 

Urie and Saiko both jumped at the sound.  Yamori was laughing, his voice dripping with excitement.  Urie gritted his teeth. Saiko looked like she was going to be sick.  Urie absolutely didn't want her to start crying again.  “Your boss isn’t a good guy ya know.  He deserves it.”

 

Saiko nodded glumly.  Urie continued talking, anything just to keep from having to think about what was happening on the other side of the wall.  “You know what he does, how he got his fortune.  Yeah, he seems like a nice guy now, but you don’t make that kinda money playing fair or being nice.  How many people do you think he’s killed, how many women do you think he's widowed?  You know he was in the war right? Do you know how many men he killed trying to keep his secret?”

 

Saiko whimpered and curled in on herself. Urie knew then that she had some idea of her employer’s true nature.  She simply didn’t want to acknowledge it.  

 

“Does that make what you’re doing all right?” Saiko asked meekly.

 

“It doesn’t,”Urie agreed.  Haise was moaning softly in the room behind them.  “It just means that maybe he deserves what Yamori is doing.”

 

Saiko looked him in the eye for the first time.  He could see the fear swimming in her eyes and somewhere beneath that determination.  Her voice was shaking as she spoke.  “Then you must deserve it too.”

 

Haise screamed, his voice rising to a fever pitch before petering out into breathy whimpers. Urie shook when he heard that sound.  He had done a lot of questionable things in his life, but he had never outright tortured another human being.  Yamori laughed as the last of Haise’s screams drained away.  

 

Saiko was turning an unpleasant shade of green as she listened, but she pressed on, “I saw you in that room.  You beat a man who was tied to a chair.”

 

“That’s different,” Urie said immediately, “I didn’t . . .”

 

“I saw you,” Saiko pressed.  “You enjoyed hurting him.  How is what you did any different than what Yamori is doing?  Or the things you say Sasaki has done?”  She was leaning forward in her chair, his handkerchief clutched in her hands.  She stared at him, her eyes drifting to the smears of blood on his pants.

 

Urie crossed his hands over his chest and fell silent.  She was wrong.  He was nothing like Yamori.  

 

The door to the other room swung open a moment later and  Yamori walked into their room.  Saiko immediately dropped her eyes and curled in on herself.

 

Urie curled his lips in disgust.  The man was covered in Haise’s blood.  Yamori shrugged, “He passed out.”  He turned his head pointedly to Saiko.

 

It wasn’t any of his business what Yamori wanted to do with Haise’s woman.  Nonethless, Urie stepped in front of Saiko, shielding her from Yamori’s view.  “You’ve had your fun.  I am assuming you weren’t stupid enough to kill him before we give him to Kanou.”

 

Yamori laughed.  “You have no idea do you?  Kanou really didn’t tell you anything.  You can’t kill Kaneki.  That’s why he makes such a good toy.”

 

It was the second time he had heard Yamori use that name for Sasaki.  This job was getting more and more complicated.  He wasn’t sure it was worth the money or the possibility of fame to stick around.  Yamori’s cryptic words didn’t make any sense either.   Right now Haise, or Kaneki, was the focus of his obsession.   He was already taking an interest in Saiko. How long would it be before Yamori turned on him?  

 

“I want to see him for myself.”  Yamori’s grin broadened.  “You are coming with me.”  There was no way he was leaving this man with Saiko.  Yamori looked like he wanted to argue for a minute.  Then that broad grin returned to his face and he walked out of the room making sure to hold the door open for Urie.

 

Urie resisted the urge to flinch when he walked by Yamori.  The man was disturbing on every level and the closer you stood to him the more obvious it was.  He reeked with the kind of wrong that animals instinctively recognized and fled from.  

When Urie saw Haise he almost threw up right there in that little room.  The other man  was sprawled across the floor of the room in a puddle of blood, piss, and vomit.  Yamori had taken two large metal rods and driven them through Haise’s wrists and ankles.  Haise’s knees were bent and a single cord of  rope that was tied around his ankles and wrists.  The rope traveled up and encircled Haise’s neck forcing him to arch backwards if he wanted to be able to breathe.  

Haise was gasping like a dying fish.  Urie felt a wave of revulsion pass through him.  “Why did you do this?  You could have killed him.”

Yamori grinned again,  “I already told you that won’t be possible.  Kaneki can’t be killed.  At least not from this.  I just needed to make sure he didn’t get away.”

 

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”  

 

“I mean, that if I hadn’t have bolted his feet together like that he would have killed us all the moment our backs were turned.”

 

“I’m not that weak.” Urie growled.

 

Yamori’s eyes widened with pleasure and he grabbed Urie by the chin.  The man bent his head down and inhaled, his breath ghosting over Urie’s shoulder. “Would you like to test that?”  Yamori said, practically bouncing with anticipation.

 

Urie pushed the man away.  “Like hell, just what are you up to anyway?”

 

Yamori didn’t answer, he turned away and walked down the hall humming to himself as he moved away.

Urie turned back to the man he had spent so much time hating.  Saiko was right and he had seen a little too much of himself in Yamori’s anger.  If Haise survived this, he would never recover from the injuries.  

 

“As long as I get paid I don’t care what you do,”  Urie said to himself.  He somehow managed to swallow back the rising doubt building in his chest.  It’s not like it was his fault Haise was wanted by these people.  He didn’t care, not one little bit.

 

* * *

 

Saiko tried  to ignore her rising sea sickness.  Someone had to have noticed they were missing by now, but there would be no way to help them if they were too far out to sea. She hadn’t heard a sound from the other room since Haise had stopped screaming.  She had listened as the footsteps passed down the hall.  Once she heard the footsteps pause outside the door of the room before going on their way.

 

She didn’t trust Urie one little bit.  He reminded her far too much of her father.  His kind of hypocrisy was something she was very familiar with because her father had been exactly the same way; a pious man who had abhorred violence while at the same time saw no issue with beating his wife and children.  Even so there was a part of her that wanted Urie’s gentleness to be true.  She wanted the awkward man she had danced with in the ballroom to be real.  However, Urie was the reason she was here, and he was the reason Haise was being tortured in the other room.

 

Saiko refused to let Haise die.  As soon as the two of them left the room she shimmied out of the ropes that bound her ankles together.  She stretched and paced around the room until she could walk without a limp.  With one ear listening for approaching footsteps.  She flipped her chair onto its side and inspected the joinery.  She had felt the chair legs wobbling unevenly when Urie had drug her through the narrow hallway.  Her suspicions were confirmed when she found that the connections holding the chair legs to the base were very weak.  She was able to pull the chair apart without too much trouble.

She chose the sturdiest of the chairs legs, gave it a few experimental swings, and then hid behind the door with her weapon in hand.  The next time Urie came to visit her she was ready.  As he entered the room she swung her chair leg as hard as she could.  The blow struck Urie across the back of his head and he turned in shock.  Before he could raise even a token defense Saiko struck him again, this time the blow taking him right across the temple and knocking him out.

 

She stood frozen in the doorway shaking and hardly able to believe what she had just done.  She had never hit anyone before.  She poked the unconscious Urie with the chair leg and when he did not move she  poked her head out the open door and checked the hallway.  It was empty.  She padded quickly towards the room Haise was in and pushed the door open without stopping to think.

 

Saiko stifled a shriek when she saw her employer.  He was twisted up on the floor, shuddering in pain with every breath he took. There were tentacles slipping out of his lower back.  They wound around him, probing the wounds on his body. Saiko covered her hands with her mouth and started to shake.  The delicate tendrils of the tentacles were pulling at something on Haise’s wrists and ankles.  She stepped back, her spine connecting with the wall and her hand cupped over her mouth.  There was a sick, squelching noise as the tentacles pulled something free from Haise’s wrists.

 

Haise moaned and it shook Saiko out of her shock. She closed the door behind her, took her skirts in her fists and maneuvered barefoot through the gore to kneel in front of Haise.  She blocked out the the sight and the smell as best she could.  She reached out and touched his shoulder.  Haise growled and his eyes shot open.  

 

Saiko flinched away when she saw his dark left eye and Haise pulled away from her touch.  Then he looked at her and blinked stupidly.  The rage left his face immediately and he looked lost and exhausted.  “Saiko,” he rasped hoarsely, “are you real?”

 

Saiko fought back another wave of tears.  She didn’t want to think about what this man had been through. . “Yes, Sassan.  It’s me,” she said using his nickname in the hope that it would comfort him in some small way.  She reached out and brushed his bangs off his sweaty forehead.

 

Haise let his head fall against the ground and sighed. The tentacles on his back retreated. The sound of them reminded Saiko of the sound of wet noodles rubbing together. After a beat he opened his eyes again.   “We need to move.  I should be healed enough to walk in a moment.”

 

Haise was staring at her desperately, as if he were afraid she would disappear.  Something was moving beneath his skin. It crawled through his battered limbs, tiny red threads burst through the injuries on his body and slowly started to draw them closed.  Saiko had never seen anything like it before.  

 

Saiko reached out and wrapped his hand in her own.  Haise looked so grateful at that small gesture that it broke her heart. There were so many things she wanted to ask him, but foremost on her mind was his hurt and their need to escape.  Yamori was still somewhere in this building and who knew how long she would have before Urie came looking for them.  “How long does this take?”  she asked.

 

“Not long.” He was already trying to lever himself up. “Where are they?”  Haise’s mood changed in a moment.  He went from lost little boy to composed killer within a breath. It frightened her, but she did not pull away.  Haise released her hand first.

 

“Urie is in the other room.  I haven’t seen Yamori.”

 

Haise was trying to get to his feet, but the holes in his wrists and ankles hadn’t quite healed yet. “If Yamori is out there you won’t be safe wandering the halls alone.”  

 

Saiko had no idea how he was going to protect her when he could barely stand.  She looked at the tray of bloodied tools that had been used to torture Haise.  Of them the sledge hammer that had probably been used to pound the metal rods into his flesh was the least bloodied.  She hefted it once and decided it would work well enough as a weapon if she needed one.  She wound her arms around him and stumbled under his weight as she tried to  helped him find his balance.  “Walk,” he rasped when he finally steadied beneath her hands.

 

Saiko strained down the hall, Haise taking more and more of his weight as they moved.  “Do you know where we are?”  Haise asked.

 

Saiko shook her head breathlessly, “On a ship.  We were moving a little while ago, but I don’t know where we might have ended up.”   Haise unwound his arm from her shoulders and finally took his full weight. He tested his healed wrists and ankles for a moment.

 

They came to the end of the dark, narrow hallway and stepped into the next room.  Saiko stumbled as Haise pushed her back and took a defensive stance in front of her.  She peaked around his right side to see Yamori standing in the doorway.  At Yamori’s side was an older man whose clothes were damp with seawater.

 

“Hello Kaneki,or is it Haise now?” the older man greeted.

 

“Kanou,”  Haise growled.  His voice was a mixture of fear and rage.  

 

“Why don’t you have a seat?”  The doctor motioned towards the fixed seating area.  

 

Saiko grabbed  Haise’s elbow and pulled the mallet closer to her chest as Yamori grinned at her.  He seemed more amused than threatened by her weapon.  Haise squeezed her upper arm in a reassuring gesture and guided the both of them to sit.  

 

“It’s been a long time,”  Kanou began.  “I have been waiting for so long to be able to sit and speak with you.”

 

Haise remained silent, not taking the opportunity to speak when Kanou paused.  The doctor leaned forward and looked at Saiko.  “It’s such a shame I had to go through such lengths for us to have this conversation.  Tell me does this young lady know about you?  Does she know what you are?”  He gestured to Haise’s black, inhuman eye.

 

“Leave her out of this,”  Haise growled.

 

Kanou leaned back in his chair with a smug smile.  “I would have loved to, it’s your actions that made this impossible.  I thought that it would be nice for us to take a trip back to the island, you and me and Yamori.  We all have unfinished business there.”

 

Haise visibly shuddered.  Saiko placed a hand on his shoulder to steady him.  She could feel the tremors in his body run through her fingertips and felt her own anxiety escalate.  

 

“What did you do with Urie?”  Kanou asked, finally noticing the other man’s absence.  

 

Haise gritted his teeth for a moment and then spoke.  “He’s in the other room, still alive.”  

 

Kanou smiled again.  He was clearly enjoying using Saiko to force Haise.  He gestured towards Yamori and the other man stepped out from behind them to walk into the hallway.

 

“Wouldn’t you like to know why you are here, my dear?”

 

Saiko shook her head.  The doctor's eyes were boring into her, filling her with dread.  He looked like a harmless old man and it shook her to her core.

 

“The three of us served together during the war,”  Kanou started to speak.  He was enjoying Haise’s unease.  “We were on our way home when we got caught in a storm.  The ship sank.  There were just the four of us on a little lifeboat out in the middle of the ocean when we saw this island.”

 

“Stop,”  Haise slumped in on himself.  “Just stop this Kanou.  I will do whatever you want.  Just . . . let Saiko go.”

 

“Oh Haise, how could I do that.  This is so good.  I finally have you right where I want you.  And look at how cooperative you are being.”

 

Saiko tightened her grip on her employer’s shoulder.  There was the sound of footsteps in the hall and Yamori walked back into the room with Urie tailing him.  The traitor was wiping blood from his forehead.

 

Kanou reached into his pocket and took out a large stone coin with an owl emblazoned on the front.  It was identical to the one they had found in Haise’s attic.  “Look familiar?  I bought it in auction.  It was found in King Tut’s Tomb.1   I could hardly believe my luck when I heard about it.  I thought to myself, why wait for the City to reappear, when I can just bring it to me.”

 

The doctor laid the coin on the table between the two of them and reached out.  Haise paused for a moment before resting his hand in Kanou’s.  The doctor picked up a pocket knife from the table and drew a deep cut across Haise’s palm before pressing it against the stone medallion.

 

Haise grunted and his face contorted in pain when his palm touched the surface of the stone.  Saiko could hear it slurping and gulping from the wound in Haise’s palm.   The stone started to glow bright red.  Haise went a shade paler and hissed in pain as the stone started to glow and rock in his palm.  Saiko could smell his flesh cooking under the incredible heat.

 

Then almost as quickly as it had begun the stone fell from his hand and landed on the table with a dull thud.  Haise was curling his fingers around his injured palm and Saiko moved to cradle his hand in hers.  Those odd red threads were already erupting from the burned cut and knitting the damaged flesh back together.  

 

“Amazing,” Kanou said as he watched them.  “It seems your healing ability has grown even more impressive.  The Queen certainly gave you a wonderful gift.  I can’t wait to have it for myself.  Oh look, it's here.”   

 

Saiko turned to look out the window.  Outside the first pink line of dawn lit up the horizon. It was cut by a dark mass moving towards them across the ocean waves.  Saiko could see the jagged lines of a city skyline and the rounded turf of a rocky beach.  

  
Amon had been wrong all those months ago.  That was an island rising from the depths of the ocean and moving towards them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. King Tut’s Tomb was discovered in 1922. Tutmania had a huge influence in the pop culture scene of the 1920’s. http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-28403598


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lovecraftian references abound. Christmas on monster island
> 
> Haise pulls a Tetsuo Shima
> 
> Urie and Saiko go spelunking. Urie engages in fisticuffs. Saiko finally gets to use her sledgehammer.

**Chapter 4**

  
  


Urie followed the others as they got off the lifeboat, his head and his pride still aching from Saiko’s strike.  Yamori and Kanou lead the group.  Haise and Saiko brought up the middle, their hands bound with rope.  Yamori was toying with Saiko’s sledge hammer with a contemplative look on his face. Urie  kept his gun pointed at Saiko’s back.  He simmered with fury.  He had been overpowered by a woman.  He had never felt so humiliated in his life.

 

Urie wasn’t sure what to make of the things he had seen on the yacht.  The medallion and the miraculous way Sasaki had healed from his injuries were unbelievable.  Even so, he could not deny what he had seen with his own two eyes.  He had watched Sasaki heal, and he had seen the island rise from the ocean waves. 

 

“Kanou, don’t do this,”  Haise started to speak.   Before anyone  could react Yamori struck him with the sledge hammer.  Haise stumbled spitting blood.  Yamori raised the tool  again in a series of blows that left Haise’s blood splattered all over the beach.  Saiko turned away from the scene and Urie felt a certain satisfaction in seeing her afraid after what she had done to him.

  
  


“That’s enough Yamori,”  Kanou said calmly. 

 

Yamori grabbed Haise by the collar and raised him to his feet.  Haise stumbled and looked up.  Urie recoiled in revulsion as he watched Haise’s mutilated features melt back in place.  

 

“You can play with him all you want after we get what we want,”  Kanou said smirking.  

  
  


“You don’t want it,”  Haise gasped softly.  “What I have . . . what was given to me, it's not something you can handle.”

 

“We’ll be the judge of that,”  Kanou said smirking.  “You know, if this doesn’t work I can always just put you under my knife again.”

 

Yamori laughed at that.  “Remember how much fun we had the last time Kaneki?  This time I would make sure to bolt your legs to the operating table.  Then you wouldn’t be able to leave.”

 

Haise turned an unseemly shade of green at those words and Urie almost sympathized with the man.  “Is this the secret you were talking about, Kanou?  This island and whatever he is?  When are you gonna give me some kind of explanation?”

 

“It’s this city and its ruler,” Yamori said.  “He started out human and she made him this way.  We want her to make us the same as him.”

 

“Relax Urie,” Kanou soothed.  “You will understand once you meet her.”

 

Urie wasn’t certain that he would. In one breath Yamori had told him that Haise was immortal and with the next he had shown Urie how horrible it would be to have that kind of power.  This was not at all what Urie had been expecting when Kanou had used knowledge of Haise’s secret as a way to win his cooperation.  This job had gotten stranger and stranger ever since Yamori had stepped off that train.  However, it was too late to turn back now.  The only way to end this was to go straight through it and make sure he came out on top.   He followed the other men off the beach

 

The island was without a doubt one of the strangest places Urie had ever seen.  There was no vegetation of any kind, only a dark expanse of black basalt and obsidian that stretched as far as the eye could see.  As they moved away from the beach the landscape started to rise.  The stone took on irregular, blocky shapes that were so precise they looked like they had been carved by human hands. Those odd blocky shapes grew in number and size as they moved inland.

 

Finally, they came to the outskirts of the city they had seen from the yacht.  The settlement was just as strange as the rest of the island.  The buildings looked like they had grown right out of the earth.  They  all jutted out from the land at awkward angles, like a maze of skyscrapers that had been disrupted by an earthquake.  Everywhere he looked there were stone owls modeled in different positions; some perched on the edges of buildings others posed as if taking flight.  There were places where the same stone image on the medallion was carved into the side of the buildings.  

 

The streets they walked on were completely silent.  The only sounds they heard were their own strained breaths  and the distant crash of ocean waves against the beach.  As unnerving as this alien world was, even Urie had to admit it had a certain stark beauty to it.  

 

He looked over at Saiko.  She looked pale and exhausted.  There was a little knot between her brows and her eyes were red-rimmed and swollen.  Her  hair was coming loose from the pins that held it in place.  He hadn’t realized it was so long.  No one had bothered to give her back her coat when they left the yacht and the dress she was wearing was not suited for the cold.

 

Urie felt a stab of guilt.  Whatever she was, she had not asked to be in this situation and she was handling it as gracefully as she could.  Urie could have cursed himself.  He didn’t want to sympathize with her at all.   He stripped off his suit jacket and draped it over her shoulders.  She jumped in surprise when the material brushed against her bare arms.  She looked confused for a moment and then she looked away pulling the jacket closer to her body.  He supposed that she had every right to be angry, but she could have at least thanked him for the jacket. Now he was cold.  

 

Kanou was speaking with Haise, or Kaneki as the doctor continued to call him.   Urie filed the name away determined to look in to it when he got back to the mainland.  A reclusive, wealthy man with a secret past, a mysterious disappearing island,  and Sasaki’s apparent immortality.  Even if no one would believe what he had seen here today a part of him was intrigued by the mystery of all of it.  If he could find a way to bring back proof from this little adventure it would work out even better for him. 

 

Knowledge of immortality would get him all the right kind of connections, ones that could help him improve his status.  He could picture it, Urie Kuki selling the secret of immortality to the rich and the powerful.  He would never want for anything again. It would guarantee that he wouldn’t die a nameless, faceless, grunt like his father did. He would just have to think of a way to deal with Yamori and Kanou once they were done here. 

 

“How much further is it?” Urie asked.  He could hear Saiko hiss through her teeth in pain and he loosened his grasp slightly.

 

“Center of the city.  We are almost there,”  There was something off about Haise’s voice.  

 

“You have a good memory,”  Yamori commented.

 

Haise shook his head.  “I feel it, I feel her.”

 

“Her?”  It was Saiko who spoke this time, surprising everyone.

 

“The Queen of the city,”  Kanou said.  

 

“Goddess,” Yamori said reverently.

 

“She is certainly not a God,” Kanou laughed.  “She is a fascinating specimen.  I wonder if I will be able to learn as much from her as I did from you, Haise.”

 

Haise’s shoulders slumped even further at the sound of Kanou’s voice.  He stopped and turned.  “Kanou, this is a mistake.  You won’t be able to learn anything from her because she is going to kill you.  This is her temple,” he gestured at the ruined city surrounding them.  “ She already knows we are here.  She is letting us come because it amuses her.”

 

“She is not a Goddess, she is simply another animal, like us.  Perhaps she is even an offshoot of mankind,” the doctor reasoned.

 

Haise opened his mouth and then shut it again.  “I wasn’t the only one she tried to give her eye to, remember.  You saw what it did to him, what it did to me”   

 

“Yes, I remember,”  Kanou said.  “A rejection perhaps.  Like mixing two different blood groups.  Who can say why it was successful for you and not for him?”

 

Haise’s hands tightened into fists as Kanou spoke. He took a step towards the doctor and then stopped, his face contorting in agony.  He pitched forward, blood running freely from his nose.  “She’s here, she’s coming.  You all have to run.”

 

Haise turned his head, his eyes wide with terror.  “Run, what are you doing you idiots just, run!”

 

He started to scream half in pain and half in fear.  Those odd tentacles burst from his back and he arched backwards.  Everyone pulled back except for Saiko.  She pushed off Urie’s hold and ran towards Haise.  “Sassan,” she yelled, her bound hands outstretched as she tried to reach him before he disappeared beneath the pulsating flesh.  

 

The tentacles wrapped tighter and fused around Haise’s body.  The strange flesh bubbled for a moment before bursting out of the odd cocoon they had formed around Haise.  They reached outwards towards the group.  Kanou and Yamori were both batted to the ground by the waving tentacles.  Saiko was still trying to reach Sasaki. Urie saw the appendage strike out at her and  before he could think about what he was doing Urie surged forward and knocked her to the ground.  

 

The tentacle that reached for Saiko lashed out at the ground instead.  The stone beneath Urie cracked and crumbled beneath him.  He fell with Saiko still wrapped in his arms.

 

* * *

  
  
  


As soon as she recovered from their landing Saiko pushed away from Urie and tried to stand.  She slipped and tumbled backwards cutting her hands and feet on the rocky ground. Urie was getting to his feet slowly and rubbing the bruises on his arms.  When he finished he knelt and untied her hands.  “Where are we?”  he asked.  

 

She wanted to laugh right in his face.  “I don’t know,” Saiko said softly.  She looked up through the hole that they had fallen through.  Brittle stone crumbled away at the edges and fell into the pit with them.   

 

Saiko clenched her fists desperate to hear what was happening above them.  There was only silence.  She cupped her hands over her mouth and yelled, “Sassan, Sassan, are you all right?”

 

Urie pulled her back from the newly formed opening, “What the hell are you doing?  What if that thing hears us?”

 

Saiko pushed him off of her in anger.  She was tired of being afraid and letting this man intimidate her.  “That’s the idea,” she said.  “I may not know what happened up there, but I know Haise would never hurt us.”  Urie’s face contorted like he had just eaten a lemon when she said that. “And anyway,” she continued, “what do you want to do, just stay here?”

 

Urie grabbed her wrist and pulled her close.  “What I want, is not to get killed by whatever the hell that thing was.”  

 

Saiko met his gaze, ignoring the crushing pain in her wrist,  “So what should we do then?” she challenged.  “You think those other two are gonna come back for us?”

 

Urie huffed and dropped her wrist.  He paced restlessly around the cave they had fallen into.  Saiko rubbed her arms through the rough fabric of the jacket he had lent her.  “Can you give me a leg up?” she asked finally.

 

Urie smoothed his hair back as he considered her suggestion.  He shrugged and then knelt at her feet.  “Get on my shoulders,” he commanded.

 

Saiko blushed as she climbed on to his back.  She did her best to hold still as Urie wobbled beneath her weight.  The pressure of his fingers on her thighs made her shiver.  Saiko was hit with the odd sensation of vertigo as he started to stand. 

 

“Can you reach it?” Urie asked when he stood full height.

 

She shifted forward on his shoulders carefully and reached up, her fingers could barely touch the sharp edges of the opening.  “Think you can hold me while I try and stand?” she asked.

 

Urie nodded as he spoke, “Just give it a try.”

Urie pushed her dangling legs closer to his head and she leaned her abdomen against the back of his head and tried to pull her knees up.

 

Just as Saiko’s palm pressed against the edges of the cave opening something struck them.  Urie was knocked off balance by the force of the blow and he dropped Saiko.  She hit the ground with a wet smack and could only lay there gasping while she struggled to understand what had just happened.

 

Urie bellowed.  Something was snarling.  Saiko heard the sound of a gunshot and the snarling stopped.  Urie’s ragged breathing was the only sound inside the cave.  Saiko levered herself off the ground and brushed her hair out of her face.  

 

“You still think that your boss won’t kill us when he finds us?”  the man snarled.  He kicked the corpse at his feet towards her.  

 

Saiko took a wary step towards the creature that had attacked them.  It looked like it might have  once been human.  It’s body was emaciated and contorted.  The joints of the creature all seemed to run in the opposite direction nature intended.  It’s tongue flopped limply out of its dead mouth and rested against the floor of the cave.  It’s waxy, pale skin was almost glowing in the darkness of the cave.  Most disturbing of all were its eyes; the right eye was a perfectly normal human eye and the left eye was an alien red on black, exactly like Sassan’s.  

 

Saiko looked up from the corpse and right at Urie.  He looked satisfied and smug at this new discovery.  “Here,” he said and held out the sledge hammer Yamori had been carrying.  “This fell in with us.  You should take it.”

 

Saiko’s lips thinned in irritation as she reached out for her only weapon.  “How many shots do you have left?”  she asked stiffly, memories of her brother’s hunting trips flooding through her mind.

 

“Just this,” he said holding up the revolver. “I dropped my ammo box when we fell.”

 

Something blinked in the darkness behind Urie.  Saiko gasped and stared at the odd red lights popping up in the darkness around them.  

 

“What is it?” Urie grumbled and turned to follow her gaze.  

 

They were eyes.  Urie must have realized it at the same time she did.  There were ten creatures watching them from the darkness and judging by the sound of feet shuffling in the cave more were coming.    The sound of the gunshot must have gotten their attention.

 

Neither of them said a word, they just started to run.  They could hear the creatures shuffling behind them as they moved through the gloom.  Saiko knew they would never make it.  It was too dark for them to run properly and any light would undoubtedly draw their attention.  She gripped her sledge hammer tighter against her chest.

 

Urie reached behind him and grabbed Saiko’s hand.  The move was so unexpected she didn’t know what to make of it.  The palm he pressed against hers was damp with sweat.  She could feel slight tremors moving down his arm as they walked.  She wondered if he had been injured in the fight, but didn’t have the courage to ask.  

 

Urie stopped short and for a moment there was only the harsh sounds of their breathing.  Then Saiko could hear the sound of bare feet slapping against the stone.  A flash of white flesh cut through the dark and they were under attack.  Three of the creatures caught up with them.  They reached out tearing at flesh and clothes alike.  Saiko could hear the smack of flesh against flesh as Urie tried to fight these creatures with his fists. She griped the handle of her sledge hammer and swung out at the creatures.  She felt the harsh impact and the splatter of blood against her face when her weapon met the creature's skull.  She moved towards Urie where he was grappling with the other two creatures.  She could distinguish their pale bodies from Urie’s well enough in the dark and she swung again.

 

She missed the skull and his the thing in the chest.  The creature was blown backwards and  it gave Urie enough time to snap the neck of the last creature.  The two of them stood there panting in the dark before the sound of movement reached them once again.  

 

“Hide,” Urie whispered frantically.  They had no other choice.  Both of them had noticed that, like Sassan, these creatures were already starting to heal from their injuries.

 

They ran further down the cave and ducked into a narrow crevice.  Urie pushed Saiko behind him and she struggled to see over his broad shoulders.  The movement came closer. The shuffling grew faster.  There was a chorus of high pitched cries that echoed through the cave.  Saiko covered her ears with her hands and cowered behind Urie.  

 

The shuffling had stopped.   In its place there was a horrible clicking sound and the harsh rasp of a large body sliding over the rock of the cave.  There was a slow, rhythmic crunching that sounded like chewing.  

 

Saiko raised her hand to her mouth and stifled a gasp as the thing came into view.  A bulbous, red head nosed its way past their hiding spot.  Pieces of the creatures that had been chasing them were lodged in its mouth.  The creatures long body came next, it's thin legs struggling to push its bulk forward over the rock.  It looked like a giant centipede.  It's black, armored body slid easily through the cave.  

 

Saiko crouched down with her hands over her mouth until the creature passed. She released a long breath when the clicking noises disappeared down the hall.  

 

Urie stepped out from their shared hiding spot.  “We should follow it.”  He said simply.  

 

“I . . .why would we do that?” Saiko demanded

 

“The other creatures are afraid of that thing and anyway maybe if we follow it, it can lead us to the surface.  It’s better than standing around here isn’t it?” Urie demanded.

  
  


They walked back out into the darkness of the cave, following that rasping, clicking sound as it moved.  She didn’t know how long they followed the giant insect.  She rested her palm against Urie’s broad back and focused on putting one foot in front of the other.  She had been running on adrenaline since she had woken up on the yacht.  She wanted to find a place to curl up and sleep.  She could feel Urie’s muscles trembling beneath his shirt.  He couldn’t have been doing much better.

 

Finally, the dank air of the cave began to clear  and the gloom began to lighten.   Saiko breathed deeply.  Urie grabbed her wrist and walked a little faster.  They were both anxious to get out of the cave.  

  
The ground beneath their feet started to slope upwards and they could see the exit to the tunnel systems they had been traveling.  Urie peered cautiously up at the mouth of the cave.  They both stopped to listen and when they heard nothing they jogged up the incline and out of the caves.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They meet the Goddess. Things go horribly wrong.

**Chapter 5**

 

The centipede had lead them to what might have been a throne room or a temple.   It was made of the same dark, shiny stone that seemed to compose every structure on the island.  There were countless pillars supporting the roof over their heads and the only light came from a few torches sputtering green fire. Saiko sank to her knees as soon as they stepped out into the light.  

 

Urie didn’t feel any safer in this temple than he did anywhere else.  The look on Saiko’s pale, drawn face told him she felt the same way.  If anything this place felt worse than being in the temple.  She looked awful.  Her dress was torn beyond recognition and her hair hung lifelessly around her shoulders.  There were shallow cuts all over her bare feet and exposed legs.  The bulky suit jacket she was wearing made her seem even more like a child.  

 

Urie leaned against one of the pillars and slid to the ground.  He didn’t want to stay here longer than he absolutely had to, but even he was forced to admit they needed a rest. The cavern had unnerved him more than he cared to admit.  His father had died in a cave in when he had been a child.  For years his dreams had been plagued by nightmares of being encased in stone while still alive.  He shivered and hoped that Saiko would pass it off as nothing more than a case of the chills.  

 

The temple they were in was significantly warmer than the caves. Saiko yawned suddenly and then sprawled out on the floor.  She was asleep within seconds.  It was probably due more to her own exhaustion than any trust she had for Urie.  

 

He decided to let her sleep for a bit. It would be easier to make their way back to the yacht once she had slept.   He tilted his head back against the pillar, closed his eyes, and planned their next move.  He was not going to waste his time searching for Sasaki and the others.  He was going back to the yacht and get the hell off this island.  Then he was going to drink until he forgot about everything he had just seen.  

 

After seeing those creatures in the caves he thought he understood why Sasaki had been so afraid.  As far as Urie could tell those things used to be human and they had the same eye and the same healing ability as Sasaki.  They must have been the failures Kanou mentioned before.  Urie frowned as he considered what he had seen and heard.  He wondered how many of those creatures there were living in those caves and how long they had been there.  If they were truly immortal they could be the survivors of centuries of shipwrecks.  There could be thousands of them waiting beneath the ground.

 

With that thought in mind Urie bent and shook Saiko awak.  She uncurled and rubbed her eyes with a frown.  “We have to go,” he said urgently and pulled her to her feet without giving her time to wake up properly.  She grumbled for a moment as she stumbled to her feet, but did not resist.  “I don’t want to be here when that centipede thing comes back.”

That woke her up and she rubbed the rest of the sleep from her eyes.  Her face set with determination she strode after him.  “What about Sassan?”

 

It would be a problem if she insisted on tracking down her employer.  For some reason, he couldn’t stomach the thought of leaving her on this island while he escaped.  She would die if he left her and for some reason that left a sour taste in his mouth.  “We need to get back to the boat.  We can look for everyone else later.”  Once he got her on the ship he could overpower her easily enough.  

 

They moved through the temple, weaving their way through the forest of  columns as they searched for the exit.  Urie was starting to get a feel for how large this place was really way as they walked.  Then, they heard the clicking noise of a hundred insect legs traveling over stone.  He grabbed Saiko and ran in the opposite direction of the noise, not bothering to wait and see where the centipede was coming from.

 

They broke free of the pillars and stumbled onto a clear walkway that ran through the center of the temple.  Urie could see the heavy stone doors right in front of him.  He yanked Saiko up and he made a desperate sprint for those doors.

 

They never made it.  An incredible force flung them away from the doors.  They landed in a circle of green light.  Saiko was groaning weakly after being thrown so hard.  Urie looked up.

  
  


An owl statue rose from behind the couch.  Its wings were spread wide as if the stone beast was going to take flight.  It filled Urie’s entire field of vision and he couldn’t help but stare at the stone monstrosity.  A flicker of movement caught his eye and drew his attention to the large stone couch resting beneath the owl.   There was  woman reclined in the center of that couch.  She was  dressed in a diaphanous white gown splattered with blood.  

 

There were two creatures resting at the foot of her couch.  They were twisted, broken forms caught somewhere between dog and human.  Urie was almost sick when he recognized them as Kanou and Yamori. Their left eyes were glowing red in the torch light. 

 

The woman sat up and cupped her chin in her hands. Both of her eyes were that terrible combination of red on black.  

  
  


She looked over them curiously and then snapped her fingers.  The giant centipede descended from the ceiling, twisting its body so that it faced them.  She began to  stroke the centipede's head gently.  

 

The woman giggled like a child and smiled widely.  “You brought my pet back home to me.  I wonder how I should thank you.”

  
  


“Your pet?” Urie managed.  The centipede lowered its head onto the couch and the woman continued to stroke it.

 

“Are you the Goddess?” Saiko asked quietly from where she was kneeling.

 

The woman laughed again and sung her legs off the couch.  “Oh you are so cute,” she started to walk towards Saiko, the centipede dropping to trail her like a dog. The creatures that used to be Kanou and Yamori whined and slunk away from the insect as it moved past them.   “I think I will keep you.  See my pet seems to like you too,”  she looked over at Urie and frowned.  “He doesn’t seem to like you very much.”

 

“What do you mean we returned your pet?”  Urie demanded. “We didn’t bring that thing with us, I sure as hell would have noticed.”

 

“Don’t swear,”  The goddess said in a sing song voice.  A tentacle burst from the ground, wrapped itself around Urie’s neck and drug him down.  He was pinned when four other tentacles burst from the earth and wrapped themselves around his wrists and ankles. 

 

Urie struggled helplessly as he watched the goddess approach Saiko.  The girl remained stiff backed and proud as the other woman approached.  “I like you,”  the goddess said.  “I want to give you a gift.”  The woman frowned and put her fingers against her chin considering.  “Would you like to stay with me?  I get so lonely here with only my pets.”

 

Pinned to the ground Urie was unable to do anything but watch as the Goddess bent over Saiko and smiled.  He contorted his limbs in a desperate attempt to get free.  The woman frowned and started to walk over to Urie.  She reached up  and ran her fingers over her left eye.  “I know what to give you,”  she said smiling.  “I don’t think you will like it very much.”  Her two longest fingers sank into the cavity of her left eye.  There was a sick, wet squelching noise and then a hollow pop.  The Goddess rolled her eye around in her palm and smiled.  She bent over Urie and touched his cheek before stretching out her hand and reaching for his left eye.

 

The centipede reared over her and grabbed her with its jaws, four sets of its legs sank punctured the woman’s body.   Saiko scrambled back to avoid getting his by the insects long body. 

 

The Goddess twisted in the insects hold, ripping the beasts limbs from its body as she turned.  An enraged cry escaped her lips.  “You! You! You!,” she cried out,  “How could you?  You were my favorite?  Look what I did for you?” she shrieked and pointed at Kanou and Yamori who had not found the nerve to escape. 

 

A set of wings, similar in construction to Haise’s tentacles burst from the back of the Goddess.  “You’ll pay.  You will.  I will show you.”  The Goddess began to change her wings encasing her in a cocoon.  The tentacles holding Urie still finally released and he ran towards Saiko.

 

The Goddess had changed into a giant owl.  Her large talons sunk into the stone of her temple.  She screeched in rage and spread her pinion feathers full length and knocking over the stone pillars near her.  The centipede made a temporary retreat, climbing nimbly up the walls of the temple.  

 

The owl crouched and flapped its wings raising up a wind storm inside the building.  Then it rose into the air, crashing through the roof of the temple, its talons wrapping around the centipede and taking the insect with it. 

  
  
  


“Let’s go idiot, ” It was Saiko’s turn to grab Urie by the wrist and drag him away.  The temple was crumbling around them, the roof caving in on itself and the stone pillars knocking each other over like a series of dominoes.  

 

Somehow they made it outside.  There was a terrible crash as the owl swooped in to one of the stone buildings in a vain attempt to capture the centipede.  The spry creature had evaded at the last minute, but not before the raptors talons and ripped a series of long gashes through its back.  

 

“We can’t stay here,” said Urie as another building crumbled.  Saiko nodded and pulled him into a run.  Behind them they heard the crack of more stone and the angry cries of the owl.  They heard the desperate scramble of the centipede's legs against the stone buildings.  There was nothing they could do now but run. 

 

* * *

  
  


Saiko and Urie ran until their exhaustion forced them to take a slower pace.  They made it out of the city and were heading back towards the beach.  The sounds of fighting echoed behind them.  Despair filled Saiko.  She knew who that centipede really was.  She had understood the moment that the woman had changed into an owl.  There also wasn’t a doubt in her mind how the fight would end.

 

She felt to drained to cry so she kept walking after Urie.  At least he seemed to have some kind of plan.  The awkward weight of her weapon swung at her side.  She was glad she hadn’t dropped it during the rush to get out of the city.

 

There was the shrill owls cry echoing over the basalt hills.  Saiko dared to look back.  The owl was perched on a building, the centipede clutched in one talon.  The insect swung limply in its grip, its great red head knocking carelessly against the building.

 

Saiko looked away as the owl screeched in victory.  She didn’t want to see what was going to happen next.  All she wanted was a big meal, a bath, a warm bed, and at least a week of sleep.  

 

Saiko heard the rush of wings behind her.  “Urie,” she cried and they ducked under one of the odd, blocky shapes jutting from the soil.  

 

The great owl swooped overhead.  It flew so low to the ground Saiko could feel the disturbed air brush against her face.  She cringed and Urie put a hand on her shoulder while she shook.  He was frowning when she turned back to look at him.  “It’s going to the beach, he murmured.

 

There was only one thing it would be after.  Saiko surged forward.  Urie pulled her back.  “Stay, there isn’t anything we can do,” he said.

 

There was another victorious screech and then the sound of the ocean waves were overtaken by the sound of puncturing timber.  They crouched in the shadow of the stone listening as the owl tore apart the yacht that had brought them to this island.   When the creature finished it winged its way back over their hiding place and returned to the city.

 

Saiko and Urie leaned out from their hiding spot to watch the owl perch on the highest building in the city.  It raised its head, spread its wings and gave a great call.  Out from the caverns below the city poured those odd pale skinned creatures that used to be human.  Hundreds, maybe even thousands of them poured out from the cracks of the earth and swarmed around the Goddess.  Her pets had finally joined her in the city.

  
  


“We should try and get to the lifeboat,” Urie said grimly.  “It would be better than being stuck here.”  Saiko nodded dumbly and let Urie lead her once more.  

 

The boat they had arrived on had not been spared.  It had been knocked over and there were a deep set of gashes across the bottom.  Urie managed to salvage what supplies he could from the two wrecked ships.  It wasn’t much; a few blankets, some rations, and some water were all he was able to find.

 

They made a small camp beneath the shelter of a stone outcropping.  They huddled together in the cold; both of them exhausted, but still too paranoid to fall into a deep sleep.  They waited in the darkness and listened to the creatures moving in the night

  
  


When the moon rose high over the ocean Saiko woke to the sound of clicking.  She wriggled out of Urie’s hold hoping that the sound hadn’t been a trick of her imagination.  She took hold of her sledge hammer before stepping out and peering into the night.  Something large was moving just outside the range of her vision.

 

Hope blossomed in her chest.  “Sassan,” she said softly.  The movement stopped.  “Sassan, is that you?”

 

Silence answered her.  Saiko bit her lip.  The frustration and terror of the day hit her all at once and she started to cry.  The sledgehammer fell from her numb fingers.  “Sassan, please, answer me.  It’s not fair.  I thought you were dead.”  She started to sob in earnest now.  

 

The clicking sound returned.  She could see the centipede’s large, red head moving towards her in the night.  She sniffled and wiped the tears off her cheeks.  She smiled as much as she was able and held out her hand.  “It’s all right, I know that its you.  I know that you won’t hurt me.”

 

The centipede wondered closer to her outstretched hand.  “You lead us out of the caves, didn’t you?  You were trying to protect us right?  It’s okay, I understand.”

  
  


The centipede limped closer.   Saiko could hear the sound of bones cracking and wet flesh splitting apart.  The centipede burst open and like a cicada shedding its skin Haise Sasaki rose from the husk.  

 

He stumbled towards Saiko and took her outstretched hand in his own.   “Saiko,” he rasped weakly, “Are you all right?  Were you hurt?”

 

Saiko closed the distance between the two of them and drew him in to a hug.  “It’s fine Sassan.  We all okay.  Thank you for saving us.”  

 

Haise’s forehead dropped to rest against her shoulder and he brought his hands up to return the embrance.  “Good,” he said faintly.  Saiko stumbled backwards as he slumped forward into her arms the last bits of consciousness leaving him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks everyone for taking the time to read and leave a comment.
> 
> Yes, I have ideas for a prequel, a sequel, and maybe some side stories. No, I have no intention of leaving everyone stranded on zombie island.


End file.
